2016-07-28 04:03 Buying cat toys is a gamble
Y (Kuma's owner)
If you hear the word "gambling," you would imagine slot machines, card games, horse racing or lottery tickets. Gambling is exciting and, if you are lucky enough, you may win a fortune. I have tried gambling three times. I bought lottery tickets in Australia and Japan. Well, I'm not a millionaire now, which means the tickets I bought were all just pieces of paper.
I read a book written by a mathematician. The author said he calculated the probability of winning by gambling, and he came to the conclusion that gambling has high a probability to lose money. Whatever the advertisements of lottery tickets say, I would not buy one anymore. I trust the mathematician.
However, against my will, I sometimes need to gamble. As you already know by the title of this journal, it's about buying cat toys. I have three cats. They are same as us, you know. Different strokes for different cats. One cat likes to play with a small stuffed animal on the end of a string, and others like the string. I've been living with them for a long time and I know what kind of toys they like, but I still choose toys they don't like by mistake. If I could I go shopping with my cats, I would ask them which toys they want.
One day, I bought toys for my cats. I examined the toys in a pet shop carefully and decided to buy balls. On the way home, I was imagining they would be excited with the new toys. What happened when I gave the toys to them was that the youngest cat played with the toy and two other cats ignored it. The oldest cat looked at me reluctantly and his face seemed to be saying, "This toy is for kittens!" Can you guess who was the most excited about the new toys? It was me.
Several days later, I heard the youngest cat running and chasing something. He seemed very excited. I thought it must be the toy I gave him! I rushed to the next room and I saw that the youngest cat was chasing a small piece of cat litter. My cats use the cat litter made of a kind of clay. He preferred to play with a piece of clay than the cat toys I bought at the pet shop. I was very disappointed.
However, I think I can say that they gave me a hint. I don't have to spend money on cat toys, I can make them. I made a ball of old newspaper and threw it. My cats seemed to like it a little bit. I haven't made a toy that has become a big hit with them yet. It depends on the design and how the toy moves.
The biggest hit in my house were the ornament balls from the Christmas tree. You know, those metallic shiny colourful balls. My cats loved to hit them. Therefore, as soon as I decorated the Christmas tree with beautiful balls, they hit and dropped them. Things didn't go as I had expected.
One of my friends who loves cats said it's good to have something that you cannot control as you want. She said that is what cats are like. Yes, there is some truth in what she says. That's why I love cats.
2016-07-23 22:14 Comfortable Season
Y (Kuma's owner)
It's a lovely day today. Yesterday and the day before yesterday were hot like summer. The temperature went up to 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 degrees Fahrenheit). I live in Australia and it is supposed to be winter now. Where has winter gone?
Sunflowers sprouted, birds came to our backyard to take a bath and I wanted to eat an ice candy.
Then, today is not hot at all. The temperature in the early morning was 6 degrees Celsius (42.8 degrees Fahrenheit). It's almost like riding on a roller coaster, it suddenly went up and went down.
However, this is an exception. I think winter is the best season in Queensland. Usually, it's not so cold and not humid. To me there's another reason that I love winter. The reason is there is no chance to meet snakes.
I went to the local supermarket yesterday and saw people who wore various kinds of outfits. Some of them wore T-shirts like me, or some wore long-sleeved shirts. I also saw children who had bare feet.
I'm getting confused what season it is now?
Anyway, if you are planning to visit Queensland, I strongly recommend you to come in winter. It's a most comfortable season.
2016-07-22 04:33 Noisy Friarbird
Y (Kuma's owner)
People love birds because they are pretty and they can sing beautifully.
I love to take picture of wild birds. I always upload bird's pictures to my twitter account. My favorite bird is a Galah, so I upload the Galah's pictures a lot. Their pink feathers attract people. Superb Fairy-wren is a very small bird and the male has beautiful blue feathers as well.
One day, as I always do, I looked in the backyard to take pictures and found a bald-headed bird. It was a Noisy Friarbird. I remember I have seen him sometimes. Once I saw him, his unique looks caught my attention and I couldn't forget him. He has a naked head and that makes him look like a vulture.
When I upload colourful or pretty bird's pictures, people retweet them. However, nobody retweeted the Noisy Friarbird's picture. Maybe nobody liked him. Well, I can understand what people thought who saw the picture of the Noisy Friarbird. I think the Noisy Friarbird puts people off with their appearance.
In Japanese, the Noisy Friarbird is Zuguro Hage Mitsusui which means Black bald-headed honey eater. "Hage" (bald head) is a rude word. I cannot use this word to describe someone. I don't know why ornithologists use this word for this bird. It's a precise expression but I feel sorry for them.
The first time I saw him, I thought he was weird. After I saw more of him, I've been getting used to him. Once I got used to him, I feel familiar with him. To be accustomed increases the familiarity.
I remember my friend who saw the movie "E.T." and said that ET is pretty. At that time, I hadn't seen "E.T." and I thought that creature in the movie was ugly and couldn't understand why my friend said it's pretty. Then, I went to the movie theatre to see "E.T." Oh, it's not so ugly, is it? What made my image of E.T. change? I think it depends on experience, how long or how much do I know it.
Now I know Noisy Friarbirds well. They are regular visitors in the backyard. To me, they are pretty and whoever may say they are ugly, I like them.